Mass Effect Has Changed Gaming Forever

Terminal Gamer's Geoffrey Calver looks at how the Mass Effect games have changed gaming forever.

From the article:

"In the end, the Mass Effect story will change gaming because Shepard isn't just Shepard – he's my Shepard. And yours is your Shepard. Our decisions are never the same. We each have a different experience. And because those decisions carry over to the next game, they are real decisions. Mass Effect is very much alive. The universe is teeming with characters that matter and decisions that reverberate."

I just read the article and I have to say that I don't think you read anything but the headline. The article is about how the decision-making aspect of the Mass Effect series (and the way the decisions continue to reverberate throughout the different games) has changed gaming. He basically says that games will never be the same because of how much so Mass Effect's Shepard becomes your Shepard.

Next time maybe you should read the article before commenting so you don't sound so uninformed?

...and like I said if you enjoy a game as much as this guy enjoyed ME2 its going to stay with you. I remeber the 1st time I jumped on a vine as Harry in Pitfall. That stuck with me and changed gaming for me. If your over the age of 30 games continue to be amazing but not as genre defining as some youngsters seem to think they are. Besides Bioware knows rpgs KOTOR did what ME2 is doing now & your decisions affect gameplay there as well.

There is nothing like Mass Effect out there.No game makes you think so hard about the decisions you make because you are not sure how it will affect you in the sequel.I made a decesion at the end of ME2 and i have this feeling that i might regret it in ME3.

but unfortunately I lost my ME1 save and the default ME1 consequences that bioware choose for people without a ME1 save were not the ones that I had made. So now I want to play ME1 again and then play me2 again.

Im going to have my entire team survive next time tho as one of them died in my first ME2 playthrough(that makes me sad).

"The decisions in ME1 had little effect on ME2. No reason to expect much of a difference in ME3..."

I've heard others say this. I think it depends how much time u invested in ME1. For me, I had an Asari contacting me over halfway through the game as to my decision with the Rachni in ME1, saying they will basically 'have my back' in the future... which would have 2b ME3...

I had Paragon alternate dialoge from the get go too from ME1, very cool... I thought BioWare did a good job reflecting my decisions from ME1, not too many games do that...

im happy with the choices i made in me1... like saving the raqchni queen... i talked with an asari and got confirmation when the time came they would help... now for heavy rain also a game with consequences and a truly unique experience

Mass Effect 2 is good but i still like The Witcher a lot more. I did not like the ending in Mass Effect i was hoping some of my crew members die unless its something to do with choices but im not playing the game again. Then again i never beat a game twice Heavy Rain might be the 1st.

Please don't mention fallout 3 decesions in the same way as Mass Effect.The decesions you make in Fallout 3 start and end in Fallout 3 but that is not true with Mass Effect2.Decesions you made in ME one will have ramifications up until ME3.That level of interactions between sequels is what i am talking about.

I would say gaming always is evolving. Yes, the way we game is always the same as in we use a controller of some sort and have fun. But, games change how we look at the capabilities of gaming.

Mass Effect will make game series that don't allow your decisions to affect the story seem antiquated. Seriously, the change Mass Effect is bringing to gaming is in making each Shepard completely unique. Each choice matters and can change the game and everyone will have a different experience. Makes it much more personal and alive.

I am sorry to be a killjoy but is this another ME2 is the greatest game in the world article? Must I continuously have to listen to this drooling over Mass Effect 2 for the whole year? The game looks good I'll give you that, but the greatest game ever? No game like it? Better than UC2? Why is it gamers feel that they have to exaggerate so. I am sure if I go and play Mass Effect 2 right now, as always I will find out it is just a bunch of fanboys exaggerating trying to make their systems look good, just like when I played Fable 2, Halo 3, Gears 2 and Forza.

Come on, don't be so bitter. People got very excited by Uncharted 2 and every bit of it was warranted. Mass Effect 2 is also a fantastic game and people are excited by it, which is also warranted. Why shouldn't the very best games be celebrated.

I had two ME1 saves just sitting on my HDD for years just waiting to be used for this game! It's awesome that a dev finally decided to use an import feature in a sequel! I just hope more devs jump on this, Bethesda please let me use my hero form FO3 in a possible FO4! That goes for Lionhead in Fable 3 as well!

Not bitter Bubbles. Just tired. To tell you the truth I really don't care that much.Xbox 360 owners always assume that we PS3 owners are jealous because of what you have. But the truth is anything you have on your 360 we can match it. Shooters, racers, RPGs you name it we have it too.What bothers me is when a PS3 game which is obviously on the same level or even higher then a Xbox 360 game it still gets shadowed by either an Xbox 360 exclusive or a multi plat. I am more than ready to admit that ME2 looks good but why can't you say the same about UC2 or GOW3? Instead you have to take it a step further and claim that its better, conveniently ignoring the number of perfect scores and GOTYs that UC2 got completely. Are you Xbox 360 owners really that childish or are you completly blinded by the media and Microsoft's hype machine?

You still seem to be awfully bitter ... and it's hard to tell that you don't care. Why don't you just play a great game instead of trying to find a conspiracy whenever a good game is released on 360 ? cause to be honest, that's a what I would call a childish behavior.

@LeonSKennedy4Life - How exactly did Indigo Prophecy do what the Mass Effect series has done? Indigo Prophecy allowed choice but those choices didn't carry over into another game. You couldn't customize your character and the player certainly did not become a reflection of yourself.

This game is the same thing as anything else. This wont change gaming anymore than Heavy Rain will. If anything, this gen KILLED gaming. Nothing is changing gaming at all except for the worse.

Too many FPS, lack of RPGs, Sub-genre's died such as Horror. This generation and the mainstream killed gaming, arguably the only console to SAVE gaming is the Wii. If anyone knows me or looks at my comment history i'm heavily pro PS3. In reality Nintendo did things right for the most part. Were losing genre's now. Everything is action this, shoot that, kill this, destroy that. I need some variety.

How is Mass Effect's continuing storyline with the decisions you make actually changing the story not revolutionary? I'm not aware of any other game series where your choices in one game affect the next game.

Yes being able to continue your Character from the first Mass Effect is cool but No ONE has been able to prove that the game is different or the endings are different from those who continue a character or from those that start a new character in ME2

How many endings are there. can new players get the same endings as continued characters. YES so NO DIFFERENCE.

You obviously have not played the game if you think that importing a character and starting a new game feels the same and offers no difference. You can't just reduce the scope of the game to its ending.

Different endings are nothing revolutionary anyway, Blade Runner already offered 13 endings in 1997, that's almost a decade before the 3 endings of indigo prophecy.

ViciousBoston what have you been smoking. Nintendo has become the most mindless system in all of history. I have never seen a system churn out so much shovelware, mini-games and boring games in my life. I am sorry to say that that the once innovative company giant has become a cowardly,wimpering shut in afraid to try new things or compare themselves to the current generation, in constant fear that people will one day see them for what they are. A company feeding on past successes and people who won't pull their head out of their butts long enough to see the trash they are playing. I apologize for sounding so harsh but Nintendo is the main enemy of gaming. It's them encouraging future developers that its okay to [email protected]$$ everything as long as the idiots buy it, Microsoft's main strategy. Everyone contributes to the problem but its Nintendo that is the big red button that will destroy gaming. I know I will get a ton of disagrees for this but it needed to be said

I'm pretty sure the article is about Mass Effect as a whole - as in the whole series - not just ME2, which everyone seems to think this article is about. It's about how the series has changed gaming by making your choices relevant and by blurring the lines between good and bad. Unlike in Fallout 3 where good and bad is pretty obvious, you can't always know whether your choice is the best option until later in the game or in the next game in the series.

Mass effect 2 is the shyt... game is sick and i mean just too damn good.. please mention ONE game that tops this in terms of presentation story, depth and a living breathing world of polygons.. not one comes close... if anything negetive i will give to this game is the fact that it will make me see the flaws in other games very quickly ... and i will get bored of them FAST!

Who lets these idiots post this crap.I agree that Mass Effect 2 is an awesome game,but stop calling every great game "the best of all time" or "it's changed the industry forever".Not only does it devalue that comment,but something always better is gonna come down the line and then you'll change your tune again.These losers don't seem to have the brain cells to distinguish hype from reality...